WESTERN FRONT
At 5.35 am, German airborne troops land on the bridges at Rotterdam, Dordrecht and Moerdijk in Holland and more parachutists drop on the fortress of Eben Emael, the key to the defense of Liege in Belgium, and the German armies of Army Groups A and B cross the frontiers of Belgium, Holland and Luxemborg.
7:30 am, Advance troops of the French 7th Army and the British Expeditionary Force enter Belgium. According to the Anglo-French plan, the "Dyle Plan," it would be possible to contain any GErman attack by basing the degense on Belgium and pivoting with the right flank on Sedan and the Ardennes plateau. That was the reason for the immediate advance into Belgian territory. However, the "Dyle Plan" did not foresee that the GErmans would attack across the Ardennes plateau, which was thought to be impassable, though just such an attack was key to von Manstein's Operation Sickle. By attacking in force in the Netherlands, the GErmans draw the Allies off to the northeast, breach their line on the Ardennes and quickly reach the sea near Calais. The Allied pivot at Sedan is thus destroyed at a blow, and the outcome is disasterous for the French and the British.
Neville Chamberlain resigns, and Winston Churchill forms a coalition government.
Bibliography
World War II Magazine's WWII Day by Day Desk Diary
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